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A Hazleton woman convicted in the 2002 starvation death of her 18-year-old son pleaded guilty to an animal cruelty charge in district court Wednesday.

Lyda Miller, 47, was cited for a summary offense of animal cruelty by Luzerne County SPCA Animal Control Officer Wayne Harvey in September. Miller's boyfriend, Michael Gozlan, 30, of Foster Township, who has been accused of animal cruelty in the past, was charged with third-degree misdemeanor animal cruelty.

The pair was charged after Harvey, acting on a tip of reported animal abuse in August, found an emaciated 5-month-old male pit bull, named Rusty, at the East Diamond Avenue home in Hazleton where the couple once lived.

Miller entered a guilty plea to the citation after waiving her right to legal counsel during a summary trial Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Joseph Zola.

Gozlan requested a preliminary hearing to contest the charge, which was bound over for Luzerne County Court.

Zola sentenced Miller to 10 days in jail, and said she already had served seven of those days. He also ordered her to pay a $750 fine, court costs and $1,318.60 restitution for veterinary care and boarding of Rusty. In addition, Zola prohibited Miller from possessing or caring for any animal for the rest of her life.

If convicted, Gozlan faces paying the same amount of restitution as Miller. His $2,000 bail, which he posted Jan. 2, was continued as well as his bail conditions, which includes being prohibited from possessing or caring for any animal.

At the end of the court proceedings, Gozlan and Miller signed forms to release ownership of Rusty and two female pit bull puppies about the same age as Rusty that also were found in the home in August. The legal move allows all three dogs to be available for adoption, Harvey said.

In 2003, Miller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the starvation death of her son, Chester Miller. She was sentenced to one to two years in prison but was granted early parole and placed under house arrest after serving about nine months, court papers state.

Her then-boyfriend, Paul Hoffman, now 48, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in 2004 for Chester's death and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison.

Authorities said Hoffman starved and abused Chester before sending him on a bus to be with his birth father in Florida while Lyda Miller told investigators she was afraid of Hoffman, whom she said prevented her from feeding her son.

achristman@standardspeaker.com 570-455-3636

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